Christmas Gifts

[Stacy 0]

Hi all,

 

I was wondering what you were thinking for resident Christmas gifts. I'm not sure what we are going to do, but I love to hear your suggestions.

 

Stacy

[Pennie 26]

Hey Stacy,

I put this info in my newsletter, post flyers/signs around the facility for family members to bring 1 small gift for their family member. Wrap & label it with the resident's first name & from Santa. Use a deadline date so you will know which resident's will not have Christmas gift. Anyone wishing to buy & extra gift have them wrap it & label it male or female from Santa. These gifts should be given out at your resident's Christmas party. You should also ask for donations in your flyer & newsletter. Use your list of residents, who won't receive a gift, to guide people who want to buy Xmas gifts, pass these out on Xmas Day. My facility is good about giving me money to buy gifts for resident's who won't get Xmas gifts.

 

As far as gifts, ask your residents what they would like or what they need. Usaually socks, combs, brushes, after shave, perfume, hand held mirrors, stamps, paper/stationary, pens/pencils, envelopes, PJ's, snacks (be sure the snacks are sealed, so that they can keep them in their rooms).

From here you can add personal things like books, radio, CD, robe, shirt, sweaters, pictures (items for decorating room, inexpensive things) house shoes etc. You'll find most residents want the basic stuff.

These residents usually don't have family so they rarely get things they are in need of, the basic stuff. I also buy little stockings for every resident, small items. On Christmas Eve visit the facility (usually after 10 pm) or have reliable staff place the stocking in the residents rooms or place where ever it will work best for you. When they wake-up they wil have a nice suprise.

A little more info then you asked for, but hopefully, I have answered your question and given some info you can use. Pennie

[Guest Guest_Miguel]

IO have been working with the Local High SChool ASsociated Studen Body every year and have for the last 2 years.

 

I provide their Commissoner of Community Service with a list of gift Items, each student donates at least one item in which we match up with a resident.

 

-Miguel

[Guest Guest_Chrissy]

We go and ask the residents what they would like for Christmas and they give us a few ideas. Me and a few other dept. heads take a day and shop for their gifts. The money we use is any money that is dontated to our facility after a resident has passed, we call it our memorial fund. The residents really enjoy getting gifts for the holiday and it's nice to show them that you care about them too. We also hire a Santa to go around and hand out the presents.

[Guest Guest_mary]

We have a angle tree with every residents name and thier sizes and a few things they would like or need. Visiters and staff pick a name and leave a stub with the resident and thier name on it. We check the box 1 week befor the parthy to make sure every one has a gift. Mary

[bigchris 1]

I think she is looking for the actual items that we all get for gifts. I do a mixture of the items listed but I am stumped at what to get for some of my folks. I am in the process now of asking around and trying to come up with some ideas. I have 400 beds, so it will be tough.

 

BC

[Jen 0]

I ask all of my residents for 2 suggestions of items they would like. For those who can't reply, I ask nursing staff & families what their needs might be. Throw pillows or items for their room, throw blankets to be used as lap robes, clothing itmes, frangrance lotions, dusting powder, socks, magazine subsriptions, whatever their interests may be. Even though we only have about 80 residents, I always start early (I plan to start compiling a list on Mon.) & then turn the list into a large church in our area & they do an angel tree. I work in a sparcely populated rural county where everyone knows everyone's business, but I still use a code instead of the residents' names to remain compliant with HIPPA. This is a huge success with all gifts being distributed to our residents at our Christmas party by Snata (my fater-in-law who does a great job), but I think some of the biggest benefits are that it allows the community to stay involved with our facility & residents & their families are reminded that peple still care about those who are in nursing homes. It is a lot of work to get the gift ideas together, but it sure is worth it when we see the joy it brings our residents & their loved ones.

[bigchris 1]

As I mentioned earlier, we frequently asked our residents and found out that here are the top 3 items for Christmas....

 

1) Candy/Cookies

2) Picture frames

3) Game books.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

BC

[imzoop 0]

We do a Wish Tree each year for our residents. The Wish Tree is decorated in ornaments, each having a sealed tag attached. Inside the sealed tag is the following information.

• A Thank You for participating

• A phone number and name to call for further assistance.

• A polite suggestion to wrap the gift before bringing it in

• Instructions to put the resident’s identification number on the gift

• Where to return the gift

• The resident’s identification number (HIPAA)

• Male or Female

• When to return the gift

• Specific gift suggestions and pertinent information about each item

• General gift suggestions

• Precautions

 

Specific gift suggestions may include: Needed clothing items, Items to make the room home like with resident preference ie. horses, cars, etc... Soft furry blanket, bed spread, music cd's with specific type of music, DVD's, prefered candies, specific magazine subscriptions, books, craft project, slippers, perfumes, powders, hair bobs, dolls when appropriate, stuffed animals, toys for resident's personal pets, supplies for resident's personal pets, bird feeders & seed for their windows, cd players, items to personalize their rooms, calendars, purses, special lotions, computer games/programs, etc...

 

So far we have been very fortunate with the communities involvement. Sometimes I have to put out more tags so as not to disappoint community members. I ususally put a second tag out for residents who do not have a strong family support system and could benefit from the extra gifts. I only put these second tags out after all of the first set have been taken.

 

Those who participate get to keep the ornament which a nice keepsake especially for the children who participate.

 

One of our County Board of Supervisors is in charge of entertainment at the resident's Christmas Party, and boy does she put on a party for the residents. I could not put on nearly as nice of a party for my residents, if it were not for her. Last year she had a concert pianist, boy scouts, district attorney, the LDS youth choir, other singers & musicians, and Santa to pass out the gifts - and on Christmas Eve! This is our biggest event of the year.

 

My biggest problem at Christmas is finding the owner of the gifts that appear under the tree that are addressed to "Grandma" or "Grandpa". eeeekkkkkkk!!!!!

[Guest BT]

We have received gifts for years from our local schools. The teachers all pitch in and but our residents without families gifts for our residents. They also donate gifts that they reveive from their students. We have the local AARP who also donates gifts and a local company who "adopts" our residents without families as well. They have been doing this for years as we make a big deal out of their donations with Thank-you notes, a letter to the Editor and announcements in our newletter which they are automatically on our mailing list. We receive gifts from local church groups as well. Staff adopts a resident without a family member too. We concentrate on those folks without families. We make sure that all get recognized at the end of the holiday season.